Duty
['djuːtɪ] or ['dʊti]
Definition
(noun.) work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons; 'the duties of the job'.
(noun.) the social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force; 'we must instill a sense of duty in our children'; 'every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty'- John D.Rockefeller Jr.
(noun.) a government tax on imports or exports; 'they signed a treaty to lower duties on trade between their countries'.
Editor: Winthrop--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) That which is due; payment.
(n.) That which a person is bound by moral obligation to do, or refrain from doing; that which one ought to do; service morally obligatory.
(n.) Hence, any assigned service or business; as, the duties of a policeman, or a soldier; to be on duty.
(n.) Specifically, obedience or submission due to parents and superiors.
(n.) Respect; reverence; regard; act of respect; homage.
(n.) The efficiency of an engine, especially a steam pumping engine, as measured by work done by a certain quantity of fuel; usually, the number of pounds of water lifted one foot by one bushel of coal (94 lbs. old standard), or by 1 cwt. (112 lbs., England, or 100 lbs., United States).
(n.) Tax, toll, impost, or customs; excise; any sum of money required by government to be paid on the importation, exportation, or consumption of goods.
Inputed by Boris
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. What one ought to do, what one is bound or under obligation to do.[2]. Service, business, function, office.[3]. Tax, impost, toll, custom, excise.
Edited by Charlene
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Obligation, part, business, responsibility, allegiance, function, once,province, calling, trust, commission, service
ANT:Freedom, exemption, immunity, license, dispensation, desertion, dereliction
Checker: Sandra
Definition
n. that which is due: what one is bound by any obligation to do: obedience: military service: respect or regard: one's proper business: tax on goods.—adj. Dū′teous devoted to duty: obedient.—adv. Dū′teously.—n. Dū′teousness.—adjs. Dū′tiable subject to custom duty; Dū′tied subjected to duties and customs; Dū′tiful attentive to duty: respectful: expressive of a sense of duty.—adv. Dū′tifully.—n. Dū′tifulness.—adj. Dū′ty-free free from tax or duty.
Checker: Millicent
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. That which sternly impels us in the direction of profit along the line of desire.
Checked by Chiquita
Examples
- Except bills of exchange, and some other mercantile bills, all other deeds, bonds, and contracts, are subject to a stamp duty. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- You must therefore allow me to follow the dictates of my conscience on this occasion, which leads me to perform what I look on as a point of duty. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- And if they really are in trouble--well, it is my duty to help them out of it. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He was again put on night duty, much to his satisfaction. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Of course I submitted to him, because it was my duty; it was my feeling for him, said Dorothea, looking through the prism of her tears. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He had never a gleam of religion or affection or the sense of duty. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- No nurse fit to wait on her being at hand in the neighbourhood, her ladyship the Countess and myself undertook the duty, relieving each other. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- You must do your duty now. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Take care my gaoler hasn't got double duty to do--take care your room is not a prison too. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- If not, say so, for I wish to make things as pleasant as is consistent with my duty, and I've got another pair in my pocket. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Catherine Barkley took three nights off night duty and then she came back on again. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- The movements of the enemy may justify, or even make it your imperative duty, to cut loose from your base, and strike for the interior to aid Sherman. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Each has done his duty, and now, Kantos Kan, may we not repair at once to Hastor and get under way before to-morrow's sun? Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- But he felt it his duty at this moment to try and give a little harangue. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- To save her from misconstruction, cruel misconstruction, that even my friends have not been able to avoid, becomes my duty. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The duties of her married life, contemplated as so great beforehand, seemed to be shrinking with the furniture and the white vapor-walled landscape. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- In those in which they take place, and are in farm, there are many local duties which do not extend beyond a particular town or district. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The first wave is past, and the argument is compelled to admit that men and women have common duties and pursuits. Plato. The Republic.
- Their notions relating to the duties of parents and children differ extremely from ours. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- The coach-tax and plate tax are examples of the former method of imposing; the greater part of the other duties of excise and customs, of the latter. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- If such is the case, and Mr. Micawber forfeits no privilege by entering on these duties, my anxiety is set at rest. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The art of war cannot be learned in a day, and there must be a natural aptitude for military duties. Plato. The Republic.
- The important feature of this boat was a diver’s compartment, enabling divers to leave the vessel when submerged, for the purpose of operating on wrecks or performing other undersea duties. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- You see,' returned Mr Boffin, with a confidential sense of dignity, 'as to my literary man's duties, they're clear. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Ah, business--business--professional duties . Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- We learn to put our feelings back into ourselves, and to jog on with our duties as patiently as may be. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I left them still listening to him when I withdrew to attend to my new duties. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- It was lynch law of a kind; but in view of the responsibility, this action of the conductor lay well within his rights and duties. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- I shut my eyes involuntarily, and endeavoured to recollect what were my duties with regard to this destroyer. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- But upon the greater part of goods, those duties are equivalent to a prohibition. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Checker: Michelle